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The subject of rubber tires melting into hard plastic was covered extremely well long ago on the old MCCH. Before it went offline I thought I copied the pertinent info to Swifty's Garage, but that was years ago.
I am not a chemical student, so I am repeating from memory. There is a chemical added to the *real rider* style soft rubber tires that makes them soft. There are times when that chemical leaches out and interacts with other plastics, particularly hard, clear plastics. I have an example where the rims melted from the reaction with the tires, and other examples of the same model/issue/variant with no problem at all, suggesting the chemical mix can vary.
I keep my display models on glass shelves (old jalousie window panes work great), and I wrap my loose models stored in jammers, etc., in cheap sandwich bags and have not had any issues for over 10 years. I haven't seen any issues with jammers, but that isn't to say it can't happen. None of this will stop the leaching into the rims with rr type tires, and cost / value / high end makes no difference either, the MCCH post showed examples from high end makers still packaged with ruined rims. I'm not sure if liberating the models so they can "air out" will help any. I don't recommend painting shelves, and wood shelves are only marginally better...I've had models sit on stained and raw wood shelves leave puddles of residue where the wheels sat.
Interestingly, I have not personally seen any problems with the old 80s era Hot Wheels, but I have seen problems with just about every other maker up to and including newer premium level Hot Wheels until AW/M2/GL, which isn't to say there can't be problems with those makers but I haven't personally seen any to this point. Having the tires melt into the stand they are on is concerning, but worse is having the rims warp and distort to the point of being useless, leaving blobs of gooey plastic barbells on the ends of the axles wrapped with rubber bands.
I want to believe makers are aware of this and have improved the process, the problem doesn't seem to be as common as it used to be. It can also take time, years, to become apparent. None of this is to say this problem isn't something to watch for on your models, especially if you paid a premium price. Keep an eye on your models with soft "rubber" tires.
I am not a chemical student, so I am repeating from memory. There is a chemical added to the *real rider* style soft rubber tires that makes them soft. There are times when that chemical leaches out and interacts with other plastics, particularly hard, clear plastics. I have an example where the rims melted from the reaction with the tires, and other examples of the same model/issue/variant with no problem at all, suggesting the chemical mix can vary.
I keep my display models on glass shelves (old jalousie window panes work great), and I wrap my loose models stored in jammers, etc., in cheap sandwich bags and have not had any issues for over 10 years. I haven't seen any issues with jammers, but that isn't to say it can't happen. None of this will stop the leaching into the rims with rr type tires, and cost / value / high end makes no difference either, the MCCH post showed examples from high end makers still packaged with ruined rims. I'm not sure if liberating the models so they can "air out" will help any. I don't recommend painting shelves, and wood shelves are only marginally better...I've had models sit on stained and raw wood shelves leave puddles of residue where the wheels sat.
Interestingly, I have not personally seen any problems with the old 80s era Hot Wheels, but I have seen problems with just about every other maker up to and including newer premium level Hot Wheels until AW/M2/GL, which isn't to say there can't be problems with those makers but I haven't personally seen any to this point. Having the tires melt into the stand they are on is concerning, but worse is having the rims warp and distort to the point of being useless, leaving blobs of gooey plastic barbells on the ends of the axles wrapped with rubber bands.
I want to believe makers are aware of this and have improved the process, the problem doesn't seem to be as common as it used to be. It can also take time, years, to become apparent. None of this is to say this problem isn't something to watch for on your models, especially if you paid a premium price. Keep an eye on your models with soft "rubber" tires.
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